Anaesthesia
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Hip fracture is the most common orthopaedic emergency. We investigated the concentration of 30 ml levobupivacaine that provided analgesia to 50% and 95% of patients with a hip fracture when injected around the femoral nerve under ultrasound guidance. ⋯ We increased the concentration of levobupivacaine if the preceding dose had been ineffective and decreased it if the preceding dose had been effective. Probit regression modelling estimated the effective (95% CI) concentration of 30 ml levobupivacaine in 50% and 95% of patients with a fractured hip to be 0.026 (0.023-0.028)% w/v and 0.036 (0.027-0.047)% w/v, respectively.